Readers' Showcase: Martin Kozak

Readers' Showcase: Martin Kozak

As a sports photographer, you need to catch the very right moment. Candy Cup Springboard Competition 2014. f/1.8, 1/1250s, ISO 4000, focal length 200mm. Photo and caption by Martin Kozak

Martin Kozak is a sports photographer based in Prague. His journey into photography began with a 1.3MP digital camera given to him as a birthday present more than 15 years ago. These days he's fond of the Canon EOS 1D-X when he's out shooting water sports, ski jumps, cycling and the occasional off-road rally. See his work and find out more about him in our Q&A.

There's a Slavia Prague flag on pic #8. Was it taken at the Slavia Swimming Pool? There used to be a glass wall like that! That's where I learned to swim nearly three decades ago. Boy this brings memories...

Looking at his work, I'm intrigued he isn't a full-time photographer, but then if he was he probably couldn't afford the kit to do what he does. He's a good photographer, but perhaps if he went full time he'd risk killing the enjoyment he gets from his sports work. Just pondering these things...

That's exactly the reason. Most of the photographing people around me are chasing photo jobs, shooting just pictures there are able to sell etc. to pay off some of the gear. I've been through this couple of years before and realized this is no good for me.

I'm a full-time photographer, and I still love photography. But shooting sports for agencies, magazines, newspapers would I think be too tough with rates the way they are, when the kit required to do this kind of work costs so much. I used to shoot football (soccer) regularly for local and national newspapers, but the fees were too low to ever see a return on my kit so I stopped.

Who would have imagined that a Canon camera could produce such photos? If I went by the criticism on here, I would have expected every Canon to produce total junk. But I forget, every pro uses Canon, or maybe Nikon, and the constant whingers on here are more interested in micro lense depth and dynamic range stops than actual photography.

Yeah look I was thinking they were excellent photos too, with real creative flair. ... But then I read that Canon and Nikon were RIPed and found dead, and that great photos could only be taken with mirrorless at 42mp, so I must have been deluded.

First - excellent photos : the moment and composition .Second : every time , when I start to think (influenced by all new , highly capable slim and lite mirrorless models) that DSLR is not the main player no more , there comes a photo-set like this one (fine detailed to millimeter) , shot with big and heavy pro bodies and lenses with mirrors and mechanical shutter operated .

those pictures are really interesting. I can say, the artistic and creative way of shooting is something only the photographer can find in his head by planning ahead where and how to shoot, but the technical aspect (lenses and camera) is a very important factor.

I could shoot some nice pictures with my APS-C camera and kit lens, but once I went fullframe and got some fast lenses, I realized there is a lot more that can be done with the right tools, but I didn't know what I was capable of because I didn't had access to those tools in the first place.

Here we see the best example. Several pictures from a very expensive lens (200mm F1.8) shot wide open. How on earth somebody could get the same atmosphere of those pictures with a APS-C or microfourthirds at 200mm equiv and low tier lenses? So at the end, it's not only how the photographer shoots, it's also what are the tools that the photographer picks up for the task.

I believe this photographer can take better picture with P&S/iPhone then many people using 16 stops DR camera. Capture the right moment, beautiful artistic picture. He got the skill and fully understand what his gear can do for him.

but, Dear DPreview, can you fix your gallery layout? because it is auwfull.Flip through photos very uncomfortable:1. Button "Next" appears above it is below;2. No buttons Next, Prev buttons in full screen mode;3. No hotkeys binded to Next, Prev.

In my opinion, gallery layout is very outdated, please upgrade it.Thank you in advance!

The forward and backward arrow keys are bound to next and previous, but it doesn't work for the larger sized images (which are just a plain display of the jpeg file -- this is useful to have, but a larger size with the arrows working would indeed be helpful).

To answer Marcel, there may well be many sports photographs around that are technically more demanding to take. Far from being 'nothing' these pictures are outstanding in their image composition and in the novel way familiar scenes are presented. This wok is truly innovative, something that is rare.

To me this shot is really nothing, take a double synchronised jump shot. Made one may years ago with a 40D/50D. Take also a look at some cliff diving shots at Pinterest or look at underwater diving sychronised jumps.

To me this shot is really something, I've seen double synchronised jump shots before, even the one you made many moons ago with your canon (nice shot) but nothing new!.. I've also looked at cliff diving shots and underwater diving synchronised jumps on various websites, some are absolutely brilliant pieces of works, just like Martin Kozak's set of images here, in this Readers' Showcase!

...Said the person who did NOT take the shot. Some of the best rock/pop songs of all time are nothing more than 2 or 3 chords. Many famous quotes are but one or two easy sentences. Someone once said, "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."

Generally here, the sport tends to be a building block in a larger formalism. And, in this way, the images seem to be less about documenting activity than constructing visual form. What shouldn't be missed - and to me the real currency in the work - is the preservation of the element(s) of sport in this decidedly more abstract treatment. Though not wholly original (and very little ever is), this perspective and the resulting methodology strikes me as largely fresh. Great to see, as a very healthy contrast, to more conventional approaches to shooting sports.

If there's a high financial barrier of entry, it suggests there are many more talented people out there who won't get a chance to show off their talent. Alternatively, an inability to produce good work with limited means could suggest a lack of imagination.

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